Manufacturing Industry in NICs: Causes and Consequences

An NIC (newly industrialised country), these are countries which have undergone recent and rapid industrialisation in the last 30 years. Taiwan and Thailand are both examples of NIC’s. The causes of a rise in manufacturing industry’s are that they are cheaper (material and labour), less rules, and aid from MEDC’s. The consequences of a rise in manufacturing industry’s are, there will be less jobs in medc’s, ledc’s will be exploited and there will be negative affects on the environment. I am going to discuss each of these causes and consequences.

There are three main causes that I am going to examine in this essay, they all are a have influenced the rise of manufacturing industries in NIC’s.

Cheap labour is definitely a cause to the rise of manufacturing industry’s in NIC’s. This is a cause, as manufacturing companies want to exploit this advantage. If there is cheap labour in a place then companies will want to move there and use this cheap labour source as way of minimising their costs.

As the labour is relatively cheap then the manufacturing industry will get bigger and bigger with more and more factories opening due to the supply of cheap labour.

There have been rules in some countries, which have restricted their development. However in some places rules like these have ended and the country has been able to develop and consequently have a rise in manufacturing industries. For example in Taiwan the Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945 and modernised the country’s infrastructure, extending its road and rail network.

This has caused a rise in manufacturing industries, as they will be able to use the roads and railways as transport. This could be for labour sources, for transporting raw materials and for transporting their products. And ultimately this will reduce manufacturers costs and be able to maximise their profits.

Aid is a big factor that has led to a cause of the rise in manufacturing industries in NIC’s. Aid, which can be economic and technical, is a big help to manufacturing industries, as with this they are able to develop much further. With this economic aid (money) they are able to develop the manufacturing industry and make cuts on imports, with extra money they do not have to import everything that the need. With this technological aid they are able to use much more sophisticated machinery to construct their products, this therefore means that they do not need to hire as much labour as the machines will be able to do their job’s. And ultimately this is going to reduce their costs on hiring labour. Both of these aids will mean that they are able to focus on the development of manufacturing industry and the use of new, more sophisticated technology.

There are three main consequences that I am going to examine in this essay, they are all a consequence of a rise of manufacturing industries in NIC’s.

The rise of manufacturing industries in NIC’s can have a sever effect on the environment. Due to there being a rise in manufacturing industries there is going to many more factories in the country. This means that the levels of air pollution produced are going to be significantly increased. Also with there being better transport links the pollution levels will also rise from this. This pollution not only has an effect on the environment but it can also become a health risk to humans. Also there are a number of factories that willingly discharge toxic waste into rivers and into landfill sites, this can contaminate food chains and soils. This being another health risk to humans, and also to the environment and wildlife. These are all consequences of an uncontrolled industrial growth.

A rise of manufacturing industries can have an effect on medc’s. When companies see the cheap labour in these countries they sometimes decide to relocate and move there. This can have a bad effect on the people who have lost jobs due to companies relocating. Where there may has once been lots of jobs available in the areas where there companies once were there could be a shortage of jobs due to the companies moving. The cost of labour in NIC’s is cheap whereas the cost of labour in medc’s is more expensive. But the labour sources in MEDC’s are more qualified than the labour in NIC’s.

LEDC’s can exploit the rise of manufacturing industries by not controlling the growth. If they do not control the growth then they will be lots of factories being built and causing more and more pollution. This can lead to the people in these countries becoming very unhappy. This was the case in Taiwan where a growing environmental awareness led to mass protests and demonstrations. During the 1990’s environmental movements block the building of power stations.

To conclude what I have written in this essay I would say that NIC’s need to be careful when they develop. They need to make sure that they control the growth of manufacturing industries and not let them get out of control. Otherwise this can have negative affects, not only in their country but also on other countries. The affect that they can have on the environment is a big factor and one, which really needs to be taken into consideration with any countries development in manufacturing industries. NIC’s need to be careful as they can easily get themselves into debt when they borrow money to develop. The causes and consequences do balance each other and are not only the fault on the country that is developing.